


Adrien Agreste: Adulting is Hard

by tokillaladybug



Series: AU Yeah August 2018 [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU Yeah AUgust (Miraculous Ladybug), Adrien can't adult, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Laundromat, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Never Met, F/M, Marinette saves the day, Poor Adrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 07:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15576828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokillaladybug/pseuds/tokillaladybug
Summary: Adrien is lost during his first encounter with the dreadful washing machine.  Thankfully a very patient angel volunteers to help guide him.Adrien/Marinette fluffAU Yeah August 2018 Day 5: Laundromat.





	Adrien Agreste: Adulting is Hard

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5 of AU Yeah August: Laundromat

Twenty-three-year-old Adrien Agreste stood under the bright lights of the 24-hour laundromat for the first time. Being a Wednesday night, the laundromat was somewhat empty, with just a few people mingling through various stages of their laundry. He’d made his way through Nino’s advice of separating his clothes by color and adding the right soap, but now he’d hit a roadblock. Stupidly having let his phone battery die meant that he had no way to look up how to move forward. Being an adult without the influence of his dad was turning out to be more difficult than he’d originally thought. 

Adrien’s hands gripped the edge of the washing machine tightly as he scanned over the dozens of buttons and dials. He didn’t know what most of them meant, and he especially didn’t know which ones to set for today. After a few minutes of attempting to read over the tiny print to understand what to do, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled, he whirled around and came face to face with a petite, dark-haired girl.

“Excuse me, but you look a little lost. Did you need some help?” She gestured to the machine and smiled at him

Oh angel, sent from heaven above, thank you, thank you. “Would you please? I’ve never actually, uh, washed my clothes before. Wait. That sounded wrong.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I meant to say, I’ve never used a machine like this. Someone used to do it for me.”

The girl giggled, “I’m happy to help. My name’s Marinette.”

Oh wow, Marinette. That’s a pretty name. She had the cutest little freckles across her nose. How’d he get so lucky? And why is she looking at him like that? Oh. Oh! “My name’s, uh, Ad-Adrien.” Smooth, great first impression Adrien. 

“Well hello, Ad-Adrien.” Marinette smiled teasingly and turned to the machine. “I see you’ve separated your whites from the rest of your colored clothes. That’s a good start.”

“Yeah, my friend Nino mentioned that I should, so I’ve got that. I just don’t really know what setting to put.”

“Well, usually I’d recommend washing whites in very hot water because it keeps them bright. That’s why you separate them out though, because colors will bleed in the hot water and stain your whites. So unless you have anything particularly delicate in there, I’d suggest a hot setting with a cool rinse, and you can tumble dry low to make sure your clothes don’t shrink.” Marinette fiddled with the buttons and dials until it matched what she told him. 

“Uh, yeah sure, that sounds great. Thanks, Marinette.” He leaned past her to drop in the change required and start the machine. “What about these then?” He picked up his basket of darker colored clothes, shuffling over to the next machine. 

“Unless you have anything heavily soiled, I’d wash it all on cold with a cold rinse and low heat dry. Dark colors will fade with warmer water.” She poured some of his soap into the bottom of the machine and adjusted the settings again while he loaded the clothes in. 

He worked quickly, trying to hide some of him more *ahem* colorful items. There’s no shame in a grown man having polka-dot underwear, but he was hesitant to let her see them anyway. After he dropped the coins in and started the machine, he sat down on the edge of one of the folding tables and patted the seat next to him. Marinette joined him, mentioning that her clothes were in the dryer now and would be waiting a while, especially the heavy-weight towels. 

As the time for his washing laundry ticked away, the two idly chatted, mostly talking about their shared experience as newly graduated people fledging into the world of adulthood.  
Adrien mentioned advice he had received from Nino a few more times before Marinette finally decided to ask. “I know this is a long shot, but, is this Nino you keep mentioning Nino Lahiffe?” 

Adrien’s eyes grew wide. “You know Nino? Small world this is.”

“Yeah, he’s dating my best friend, Alya. I’ve met him only a few times now.”

“Maybe we’ll be seeing more of each other in the near future then, Marinette,” Adrien wiggled his eyebrows at her and giggled, causing her to giggle too. Adrien shifted his weight to swing his legs underneath him, only to find his shoulder pressed up against Marinette’s. He found himself really not wanting to move. The two settled into a comfortable silence for a moment. 

The obnoxious alarm signaling the end of his washing cycle came far too soon, in Adrien’s opinion. 

“Time to move those to the dryer. Want some help?” Marinette hopped down from their perch and gestured towards the washer. 

Adrien hopped down and followed her. “Sure. Sounds great.”

Marinette lifted the lid of the machine and her face fell. “Oh, Adrien.”

“What?” Adrien looked down into the machine, “Oh no. What did I do wrong?” The whole wash of clothes that used to be white were now an interesting shade of pastel pink. Not a single item was spared. 

“Something red must’ve snuck its way into the whites. The colors bled and dyed the rest of them.” She fished around through the wet laundry, until, “Aha! It was this.” She pulled out one of Adrien’s red argyle socks. And he’d tried so hard too. 

He took the sock from her with a pout. “Can we fix it?” He slowly started pulling out and separating some of the items from each other. 

“No, I’m sorry Adrien. It’ permanent.” 

Adrien held up one of his t-shirts in front of himself – bright pink and soggy. The moments stretched on as he took the time to examine it. The shirt was slightly blotchy and weighed down with the water-logged cotton fibers. 

Adrien burst out laughing.

Marinette watched him in confusion as he laughed and laughed. “Adrien?”

With a flourish, Adrien held the shirt to his chest, as if he was about to put it on. “It’s a good thing pink is my color! Don’t you think?” He cocked a hip out and held a slightly exaggerated version of one of his old modeling poses. Soon, Marinette was laughing right along with him. 

Once they calmed down, they moved all his clothes over to the dryers. By that point, Marinette’s clothes had finished drying, so Adrien helped her fold everything and get it secured away for her to take home. After an exchanging of phone numbers, Adrien returned to his perch atop the table and waved Marinette off into the night. 

His shirts may not have survived the day the way he hoped, but these memories and this new friendship with Marinette really made the whole thing worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Writing this was like pulling teeth. I almost just skipped this prompt, but I tried to push through, and this is what happened. I'm not used to writing fluff (usually I lean more towards angst and drama), so let me know what you think!


End file.
